The acclaimed Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, starring and directed by Brian Bedford, will end its run a week earlier than announced, on June 26, the Roundabout Theatre Company announced. The Tony Award-nominated revival had previously been extended to July 3 at the American Airlines Theatre.

Brian Bedford
Photo by Joan Marcus

The staging is nominated for three 2011 Tony Awards — Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor in a Play (Bedford, as formidable Lady Bracknell) and Best Costume Design (Desmond Heeley).

A 17-week extension was previously announced, but due to scheduling conflicts for cast members David Furr and Charlotte Parry, the production will now play a 16-week extension through Sunday, June 26. The limited run was originally scheduled to run through March 6.

On March 22, the production welcomed Brian Murray, Jayne Houdyshell and Jessie Austrian, replacing Paxton Whitehead, Dana Ivey and Sara Topham, respectively, in the roles of Rev. Chasuble, Miss Prism and Gwendolen Fairfax. The rest of the original cast — Santino Fontana as Algernon, David Furr as John, Tim MacDonald as Merriman, Paul O'Brien as Lane and Charlotte Parry as Cecily, plus the inimitable Brian Bedford as Lady Backnell — continued.

Ivey, Whitehead and Topham played their final performance on March 20; their work in the comedy of manners was documented in a high-def film of the revival that is now appearing in North American movie theatres.

Following the run, Bedford will rejoin the acting company of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, which originally spawned this production of Earnest.

For tickets and information, call (212) 719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the American Airlines Box Office at 227 West 42nd Street.